My own thoughts on various things. I may be totally wrong, feel free to discuss.

вторник, 15 марта 2016 г.

Reflections on the ancient ruins

When travelling in Greece I have visited Delphi and Athens. Watching the ruins in Delphi I wondered why all the buildings were destroyed and how.

And suddenly I have noticed a bronze peg in one of the stones. What is that?
Other stones had pits in them, but no pegs. Probably the stones of columns were connected with bronze pegs. They could be poured in via a small opening with molten bronze.

I have noticed only a few such pegs, but many pits. Also I have noticed that many of the pegs have holes from a wooden core. Bronze was not cheap at that time, armour and weapons were made of it.
And the wooden inserts could be used to save bronze and reduce costs.

Next I thought: if the bronze was costly, it was logical for looters to try and get it.

So probably it was looters who finished the column destruction to get the bronze pegs. (Disclaimer: I'm not an archaeologist)